The Road North

by Phillip D Granath

  The doctor knew she had no chance to outrun the boys, she had to find someplace to hide, but the desert in front of her was flat and nearly featureless all the way to the horizon. Glancing to her right she saw a few scattered clumps of sage along the dry creek bed, they were a dozen yards or so away, and Anna knew she would never make it, but what other choice did she have? She left the highway, running along the edge of the wash while behind her the boys scrambled out from under the bridge and began chasing after her. The shirtless boy had tossed away his draw knife and was quickly gaining on her. The second boy lagged behind, still carrying his spear and for a fleeting moment, Anna almost wished he would throw it. Anything had to be more merciful than what the warriors had planned for her. The spear never came, and Anna was forced to run along as the boys quickly gained on her.

  She followed the edge of the creek bed as fast as she could, but the sound of running feet only continued to grow louder behind her. Then the shirtless boy gave another battle cry before driving his shoulder into her back. Anna was thrown forward and began to tumble down and into the creek bed. The warriors shout affording her just enough warning to cover her stomach protectively as she fell. Anna rolled three times and on the last time was forced to stick out her arm to protect her stomach. Her hand caught awkwardly in the stony earth, and she heard her wrist break as her body rolled over top of it. Anna screamed as she landed awkwardly on her back, but even as she reeled in pain, she knew she would do whatever she needed to save her baby. The sound of laughter brought Anna back to her terrifying reality as she looked up the embankment at the shirtless warrior.

  “Holy shit David, did you see that bitch fall? That shit was hilarious! Hey lady, are all you white people so shitty at running? Or is it because you’re a woman? Or all preggers? Or is it all of the above?”

  The boy laughed again at his own joke as the second boys with the spear walked up and joined him. Anna tried to climb to her feet, but in her panic, she forgot about her broken wrist and the moment she pressed it to the ground she shrieked in pain. The sound brought a fresh round of laughter from her shirtless tormentor.

  Rolling onto her back and while hopelessly trying to push herself along the ground she pleaded, “Please, you don’t have to do this.”

  “That’s funny, my Chief told me something different,” the shirtless boy replied. Then the young warriors began to make their way down the embankment, taking their time.

  “I’m a doctor, all I want to do is help people. I can help your people, I…”

  The shirtless boy stood over her and grinned, then he aimed a vicious kick for her midsection. Anna screamed and rolled over taking the kick squarely in her back. She would have screamed again, but the blow knocked the wind from her, and she heard and then felt one of her ribs break.

  “You can help me all right, you can help me by shutting…. the fuck… up!” the boy emphasizing each word by kicking Anna.

  “We’ve never had any doctors out on the Res, and you know what that tells me doctor bitch? That we don’t need any. As you can see, we grew up just fine without them,” the boys said with a laugh.

  Anna rolled around on the ground still clutching her swollen stomach and reeling in pain. It hurt to even breathe, but as she teetered on the edge of unconsciousness, she knew the pain was the only thing keeping her from blacking out. Her whole body was trembling now, and Anna couldn’t tell if it was adrenaline or if she was going into shock. Either way she knew she was completely defenseless, completely at the will of these two young killers, but still, she refused to give up.

  “It doesn’t have to be this way,” she managed to say. “Our peoples don’t have to kill each other. Our peoples can work together, learn from one another. Together we are stronger than we can ever be apart,””

  The boy laughed again and then looked over at David, who stood by quietly watching.

  “This bitch just doesn’t know when to give up,” he laughed.

  “Please, please, I’m a friend of Little Birds, you must remember, please don’t do this.”

  The shirtless boy grinned down at Anna again, “You know, maybe your right. I don’t have to kill you, at least not you right away. I don’t see a reason why we can’t have some fun first.”

  For the briefest of moments Anna looked up at the shirtless warrior in confusion and then bending down he began to undo her jeans. Tears began rolling down Anna’s face, and her body shook as she quietly began to sob. The shirtless warrior pulled off her shoes first and then tossed them away. The voice inside Anna’s head returned telling her to fight or at least run, but she was petrified with fear. It was all happening again she realized, the dirty hands holding her down, the smell of sweat and blood. Anna was again helpless to stop him, but as he yanked down her pants, she could think of no other way to stall her killers. If it gave her child even a few more minutes to live, it was worth it, anything was worth it, so she didn’t fight back.

  The shirtless boy tossed Anna’s pants aside and grinning down at her said, “Come on David, this may be your last chance to get a piece of white pus…”

  Suddenly the butt of a spear struck the young warrior across the back of the head, and the Brave fell forward onto his face and lay still. The second boy, David it seemed, stood over Anna now and reaching down he picked up her jeans and then held them out to her.

  She stared up at the boy in disbelief and after a moment finally managed, “Why?”

  “Because I owe Little Bird and the Council of Elders a debt. My name is David, David Strongbow, and they did something for me…for me and my father. I remember you and the way Little Bird treated you that morning at the clinic. This is a chance for me to pay the old woman back. I don’t know if it will do you or your people any good. In fact, it will probably get you killed, but if you still want to go to the Res and find Little Bird, I’ll take you.”

  The wheels of the rover let out a satisfying hum as Kyle, Coal, and Miles raced down Highway 15 heading north. Just as Kyle had predicted, once the trio cleared the canyon, the roadways north into the Protectorate had proven remarkably well maintained. Since reaching the highway, they had been able to cover nearly 40 miles an hour, and for the first time in days, Kyle left a flicker of hope returning. At this rate, they could expect to make Salt Lake before nightfall, and with a little luck, Kyle hoped to be back on the road headed home by dawn. As they rolled down the highway Coal was back in his old perch, standing and gripping the roll bar. The half-breed’s hair flapped wildly in the breeze, and he wore a broad grin. In stark contrast Miles sat in the front seat, wrapped in the heavy quilt, his eyes focused on the map.

  “I’m beginning to think it’s intentional,” the old man said.

  “What’s that?”

  “Have you noticed anything unusual about this highway?”

  Kyle considered for a moment before replying. “You mean the fact that it’s been cleared of cars and looks like someone’s been maintaining it?”

  “I mean besides from that.”

  “What are you getting at Miles?”

  “There are no road signs or even mile markers for that matter,” the old man pointed out.

  Kyle hadn’t noticed, but he immediately realized his friend was right. “Why would anyone go through the trouble of stealing a bunch of signs? They wouldn’t be worth the trouble, believe me, I’m the scavenger, I would know.”

  The two men went silent for a moment, each lost in thought and then, down glancing at his map, Miles spoke. “Maybe it wasn’t the signs that wanted, maybe they just want to confuse anyone using the roadways.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I mean, if you live around here, you probably already know where everything is, right? You don’t need the signs. But if you’re not from around here, say a group of bandits or slavers that have come up from the south for a quick raid, you don’t really know where anything is. You don’t know how far it is to the next town or this Castle place Becky mentioned,” Miles explained.

 
; “Or how far away these Protectorate guys are. That’s smart, it would keep any uninvited guests on their toes and keep them guessing, never really quite sure where they are or where they are going.” Kyle said nodding.

  “I think that’s what some might call a home field advantage,” Miles said with a grin.

  “Yeah, but what if they had a map?

  “Son, I think you forget just how rare some pieces of information have become, things like maps these days. In fact, if I hadn’t started my library, I’m certain…”

  Coal reached down and pounded his hand against the side of the rover, and Kyle immediately began to slow.

  “We got some kind of cart ahead of us on the right,” the bounty hunter shouted.

  Kyle pulled the rover to the far left lane and squinted out against the glare of the sun. He saw it then, a brown shape nearly a half a mile out on the right shoulder.

  “Can you see anyone?” Kyle demanded.

  “Yeah, I think so, just one and he looks like he’s stepping down off of the cart,” coal replied.

  Kyle shook his head in frustration, they were making great time, and a run in with the locals was the last thing he wanted.

  “Is he armed?”

  “Don’t look like it.”

  “What’s he’s doing?” Kyle asked.

  “Nothing, just standing there next to his cart like he’s waiting for us,” Coal replied.

  “Okay, we’re going to take it slow, but keep an eye on him.”

  “Oh, I’ll do more than that,” the bounty hunter said, raising his rifle.

  Hugging the highway’s left shoulder, the scavenger slowed the rover to about 20 mph. But as they crept forward cautiously, Kyle grew more curious than anything. The wooden cart looked ancient and as if it had been cobbled together from whatever scraps of wood were available, including what looked like a barn door. It rested on two repurposed ATV tires and was drawn by an old gray donkey. The driver was an old man with a long white beard, and as he stood next to his cart, he held his hat in his hands covering his chest in what Kyle could only describe as a sign of respect. As the rover neared the man and his cart, he suddenly shouted, “God Bless the Protectorate!”

  Miles and Kyle could only stare in disbelief. Perhaps they were expected to give some kind of reply or maybe it was just in response to the men’s staring, but the old man seemed to suddenly grow very nervous. Kyle could see sweat starting to run down the man’s face, and the longer, he watched the more he was convinced that the man’s smile was forced. The scene had a surreal feeling to it, and he couldn’t help but remind him of their time with Zebadiah’s family. Of course, it was Coal that broke the silence.

  “Fucking-A right brother!” the half-breed shouted in reply.

  Coal’s response seemed to confuse the old man more than anything and Kyle decided he had seen enough. The scavenger hit the accelerator, and the rover sped away, quickly leaving the man and his donkey behind, each wearing very confused looks.

  “What was that?” Kyle asked.

  “No idea, the man almost seemed like he was paying tribute or something. That is until Coal had to shoot his mouth off,” Miles replied.

  “Hey, at least I was in character. You two just sat there staring, like it was your first fucking day in the Protectorate or something.”

  Kyle shrugged, “Well, I can’t argue with that.”

  David and Anna rode double, the young warrior pushing his horse as hard and as fast as he dared under the added weight. Anna clung to the boy for her very life, but every bounce brought her a fresh wave of pain. Anna managed to secure her wrist in a crude splint before they mounted up, but there was nothing she could do for her cracked ribs. It hurt her to even breathe, and her eyes were constantly wet with tears. The young warrior slowed and then stooped the horse entirely. When Anna looked up, she found that they were on a ridge overlooking a small and surprisingly peaceful looking town. The sun was just starting to dip towards the horizon and even through her pain Anna couldn’t help but think that Little Bird was probably right and the sunset here was going to be beautiful indeed.

  “It looks like the tribe is gathering down at the church. That means that the Chief is going to be making his big announcement soon,” David said.

  “Announcement?”

  David hesitated for a moment before replying, “About the attack on your people.”

  “You mean they don’t know?”

  “Chief Two-Steps didn’t trust anyone, not even his own people. Come on, we need to keep moving, Timmy’s got a hard head, and I can’t imagine he’s too far behind us by now.”

  “I still don’t understand why I just couldn’t take his horse,” Anna said.

  “Fights between the Braves are common in the tribe, even expected. Timmy doesn’t have many friends, and I can explain away a fight between us easily enough. But stealing another man’s horse is punishable by death, and I’m already sticking my neck out far enough just helping you and Little Bird.”

  Anna nodded into the boy’s back, “You are and thank you again.”

  “Now let’s go find Little Bird, if we’re in luck, we can catch her before she leaves for the gathering.”

  With that, David kicked the horse forward, and they headed down the slope towards the town. The Indian Nations was just how Kyle had described it Anna thought, rows and rows of small but neat homes sat abandoned, while the families that owned them instead chose to live in teepees, in what had been their front yards. The streets were wide, clean and free from the junk cars and debris that filled the streets in her own town. But what was more shocking than anything to Anna was the people, especially the women and children. The only members of the tribe she had ever seen were either their fierce warriors or Little Bird. They walked down the streets in small clumps, some holding hands, probably families she realized, all headed towards the church. Anna couldn’t help but shake her head in disbelief, not only at what she was seeing but at the violence that had been done in these people’s names just this morning.

  They turned down another street and stopped in front of a small home, not much different than any other they had passed. A small girl, no more than six was coming down the driveway, her mother trailing just a few steps behind her. The little girl looked up and upon seeing Anna pointed and began to shout, “Mama, look, look a white lady!”

  The girl’s mother just looked up at Anna confused for a moment, and then a familiar voice shouted from the porch, “My god, Anna!”

  Little Bird ran from the front porch, showing more speed than Anna would have ever guessed the woman capable. She ran to the horse, and with the help of David and her daughter, Anna was carefully lowered to the ground.

  “Anna, oh my god you look terrible, what are you doing here? What in the hell happened to you?” Little Bird asked cradling the woman’s head.

  At that moment, seeing the old woman, the closest thing Anna had to a friend, the woman was completely overcome. Anna opened her mouth to try and speak, but tears began to roll down her face, and she began to cry, truer and deeper than she had in perhaps years. Little Bird just held her close and whispered to her softly. Then the old woman looked from Anna up to David who was still mounted on his horse.

  “Thank you,” she said, “Thank you for this.”

  The young warrior nodded in reply, “Thank you for what you did for my father. But I’m not sure if bringing her to you was the best of choices. The Chief is about to announce to the whole nation that we launched a raid against the whites. After that, I have a feeling she’s not going to be very welcome out here.”

  “Raid? What kind of raid?” Little Bird pressed.

  “The kind that’s intended to put the whites down for good. I wasn’t part of it, but the white woman can tell you more.”

  With that, David turned, and Little Bird watched as the boy rode away leaving the old woman and her daughter to fret over Anna.

  “Mother, what do we do?”

  Little Bird turned first to her daugh
ter and then looked down at Anna who was just starting to catch her breath.

  “I’m going to get Anna in the house, but I want you to go fetch the other members of the council and bring them back here.”

  “But most of them will already be heading to the gathering with their families,” the young woman protested.

  “Good, even better. Have them bring their families back here with them, the more witnesses the better. Now go child, run and tell those old bastards to hurry!”

  “The exit for Interstate 89 should be just ahead. That’ll take us right through Provo and into Pleasant Grove,” Miles explained.

  Kyle let out a breath and begrudgingly nodded, he wasn’t sure exactly what Miles hoped he would find in this place and perhaps the more frustrating part was that neither did Miles. But the old man was convinced that they would find something and Kyle was starting to hope the old man was right, at the very least for Miles’ sake.

  “Some kind of checkpoint ahead,” Coal shouted.

  Kyle slowed the buggy as an overpass came into view ahead of them. It was lined with rows of sandbags while below a pair of sandbag bunkers sat on each side of the road, each surrounded by what looked like razor wire. The highway its self was still open, but the structure chocked the roadway down to just a single lane. Kyle squinted at the bunkers and the up at the sandbag wall along the overpass.

  “What do you think Coal?”

  “I think it’s the kind of thing you build if you got bullets to waste and guns to shoot them, but it don’t look like anyone’s home.”

  “How can you be so sure?” Miles asked.

  “Because we’ve been sitting here in plain sight for a good 30 seconds and nobody is shooting,” he replied.

  Kyle nodded, Coal was right about that, nobody was shooting, and the rover would make for a hell of a tempting target.

  “How about you go have a look-see Coal.”